Comments

That is the Hardimont House that was on Wake Forest Rd between what is now St Albans Rd and 440.

Andrew what was your connection to the Hardimont House? Is this property still there today?

No personal connection, just grew up in the area and know the history.

This is not Hardimont (which would be an outstanding find)

This is 3720 S. Wilmington St. The building is Broomfield, built in 1838 for Joseph T. Hunter, grandson of Theophilus Hunter. Note its similar architectural style as Midway.

The two southbound lanes in the pic are right where it splits, the left turn lane to join Fayetteville. AKA the 401/70 split.

I lived in that house from when I was born in 1949 until we moved "in to town" in I think 59' It was my family's home. Sat through hurricane Hazel in the front hall. Do you have a date for this picture? We thought we would move back out there after school was done but that was not to be. We rented it out for several years until progress took over the area and it was sold and torn down. I have the key basket my great great grandmother used to carry her keys in when she walked away from the place as Sherman approached. Otis and Mary Partin lived in the share croppers house shown in the picture with their 7 children. My cousins lived at Midway.

Just a question. Were the Hinton family a part of this Home?
PLEASE DO NOT POST THIS QUESTION!

Hi cousin Jane, Yes. Hinton family.

Thank you Mason. Isn’t this fun? Is Clarke Smith a part of this? Rixey remembers going to some house or cabin in Raleigh with Clarke and he was thinking it might have been Brookfield.

Is fun, I did not know this site until Tarlton forwarded the picture around the cousins.
Could well have been Broomfield - Clark's Dad and my Father were best friends so the Smiths were regular visitors. We just moved into the house Clark and Diane lived in for a few years, we see them often. It was actually known as Broomfield in honor of the broom straw that was so common there. Rather inelegant I guess but I loved the name and the place. Belle says its a 1965 vintage picture so some years after we had moved to town. It looks barren compared to how I recall it when it was full of family, friends, dogs, ponies, cattle and goats.

Who owned the property to the left of this shot; within the split or fork of today's 401 and 70, but at the time of Broomfield or earlier, if Joseph's father, Henry Hunter inherited this land from his father, Theophilus Jr.? Did the property boundary corner reach the split or go any further south? I ask because, the was a massive oak within that split - when the development idiots (who put a K-mart within the road fork) tried to save, to no avail. I always thought it HAD to be a very old property marker, of sorts.

Mr. Williams, you may or may not have read the story your great-great grandmother wrote regarding her memories of that house and her family. Reading a copy on line is quite simple and I would love to share it with you. The fact of the matter is that her writing was from the perspective of the key basket you hold in your possession and it is entitled "The Reminiscences of the Key Basket of a Southern Matron" by Jane Constance (Miller) Hinton. In fact, there are hundreds and hundreds of letters, writings, receipts and memories housed online and at the UNC library. I am doing some research of my own and have read much about your family and of the Broomfield Planation. I am but a distant cousin, but a cousin nonetheless. (I know this is an older post, but I sure hope you get the message or that somebody else can make sure you get the message.)

All of your stories and insights about this once grand home and property is fascinating, especially considering it is passed by thousands everyday including myself. The Ramsgate Road marker can be seen in the lower left corner near a telephone pole - it survives to this day in the same place, near a utility pole on the side of the road.

Your Comment

Do you have a connection to this photograph? Maybe you grew up here or know someone who did? What has changed in the 59 years since this photo was taken? Tell us!